,20 x X X PROFILES x x x THE PRESIDENT-I B y half an hour after midnight, the President is asleep, on the second floor of the White House. Governmental Washington, as a whole, is rarely so fortunate. The small auto- mobiles of federal employees remain parked, often until well toward morn- ing, in front of the Department of Commerce, where the minions of the NRA slave. Not infrequently secre- taries and clerks labor long after mid- night in the executive offices at the west end of the White House itself. But President Roosevelt gets at least eight hours of sleep every night. Why shouldn't he sleep? The ques- tion is asked, wholly without irritation, by the advisers and experts who have found a twelve- or fourteen-hour day normal under the New Deal. They poin t, perhaps, to small slips of paper, about the size of library catalogue cards, w hich have been dispatched from the White House that day. On the President's desk are piles of these slips, called chits by Mr. Roosevelt. Printed on them are Secretary of State or Secretary of War or Attorney-Gen- eral, or the other Cabinet titles. "'Then the President wants information on some point he dictates a chit to the proper official or scribbles the question himself. A barrage of the slips rained on departmental desks when he left on his fishing trip in March. "Please find out about Finland's financial position," '.'Did the Silver Purchase Act of 1890 raise prices?" Such might be the ques- tions. The answers may require hours of research, and it is wise, the experts have learned, to have the information ready promptly. The President has an excellent memory. The chits often go out at night in sealed envelopes and Mr. Roosevelt does not always inform his secretaries, although a stenographer is on duty until he retires, that he has sent them. Thus there is no list to remind him. But he seldom forgets that he has asked for information on some suhject, and the expert is likely to receive a telephone call from the \Vhite House in the morning. The President may even pick up, himself, the telephone which is on his desk. "What about Finland?" he will ask. After fifteen months, President Roosevelt's problems are increasing. Big Business is growing critical now that the end of the world has been post- poned. Congress has demonstrated that it has not lost its capacity for revolt. But the President's smile is as broad and incessant as ever. The White House is very gay . You hear lamen tations that the administration has no program, that the NRA is collapsing. You hear that the bills can never be paid save with printing-press money. Yet no forebod- ings of doom are discernible at the Ex- ecutive Mansion. The expression of confidence never falls from the Presi- dent's face. His staff gives the impres- sion that the buggy ride is most en joy- able even though its destination remains in doubt. Laughter, that of Mr. Roose- velt the loudest, bursts through closed doors when the Cabinet is meeting. A conference on the most solemn matter may disband in raucous merriment. When devaluation of the dollar was imminent, a senatorial conference was held in the President's office. Carter Glass of Virginia was there, nervous and irritable, violent in his opposition to dollar dehasement. .l\.mong the others was Senator Thomas P. Gore of Okla- homa. The President knew, all too well, what Glass would say, so he turn- ed to Gore. "Have I a legal right to do this?" he asked. "Mr. President," said Gore, "you could go on the street right now, knock down an old man, drag him into the White House, and take his clothes. You could sell them second-hand. It would be just about as legal as what you are planning to do. But that doesn't mat- Y d . " ter. ou can 0 It anyway. The President roared with laughter. "Did you hear that, Carter?" he de- manded of the irascible Virginian. "He's pretty rough on me, isn't he?" Then he went ahead with dollar de- basement. T HE joviality permeates daily life at the White House. Gags and jokes are so frequent that you half ex- pect Joe Cook to emerge from some corner. Shortly after inauguration it was remarked that Louis Howe, the President's oldest supporter and now chief of the secretariat, was the Raspu- tin of the administration. A few weeks later Louis appeared with new visiting cards and passed them around. The legend was: "Col. Louis Rasputin V 01- taire Talleyrand Simon Legree Howe." JUNE I b, 1934 :? :;;....i' .:.. ..w 41["""" -o-;"p:::::::5..'.'.,.., "F ii/A. '::'.: ::'::.':. . : ; , , < . ,,' : f t: . ' , . :!i:' .':-' . .:W' . J:':.b< ú, .. :wl " ....,...., \..,.:i.!. ' ;; L 1. i!i:::;i :::::: .1 & :\ .). .1: :' .:;', t%--::, .': ' . "". - ." -. .::r"i?i' W: "'::'::::;,->>:..: .:. è ::d1{'fr' " I, '$: '2 ? " <# . 't."": " : Q ._. :-; ". ;:. ':'., i: ;::#:\ (: ,.:>: ..... .. . , "\ ..::::; " . :: I t:r. :: ='* ..;:#::..; :. r;i :: -:.:.:.:...: Jk: . tfk. ".1 'L "JfjJ .. . . . )tlàf. Mr. Roosevelt, too, enjoys his little jokes. He takes pride in his ability as a mimic and enjoys, particularly at press conferences, giving imitations of people he has seen in the past day or two. He does not mention the name of his vic- tim, who may be a senator or banker, but identification is not difficult. A fa- vorite is the grande-dame type of wom- an who frequents the more formal White House functions. Mr. Roosevelt can portray her mannerisms to perfec- tion. He finds delight, also, in teasing his mother, Mrs. James Roosevelt, and her elderly friends when a movie is being shown in the second-floor hall. The President then pretends that he is enormously intrigued by the cutie on the screen. In clearly audible whispers he comments on her fine points, and the elderly ladies never fail to be scan- dalized. It is clear to them that the Presiden t is something of a rake. This lightheartedness is in marked contrast to the heavy, discouraged gloom of the Hoover years. At about five o'clock each afternoon the secre- tariat gathers in the President's office to make final reports or to receive in- structions. Mr. Roosevelt refers to these sessions as "The Children's Hour" and is vastly pleased when he has some new joke to relay. In appearance, however, the recep- tion-room at the business end of the White House has not changed very much. The same green rug is on the floor. Police officers question all visitors the instant they step through the outer door and effectively disguise the fact that they are sharply on the alert against eccentrics. The White House has a weird fascination for the mentally de-